In a bizarre development, the second day of the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy final between Saurashtra and Bengal got underway with only one official on-field umpire, KN Ananthapadmanabhan, after his colleague C Shamshuddin was injured on Monday, when he was hit by the ball.
Shamshuddin had been struck on the head while officiating at the square leg position on the opening day, and with third umpire S Ravi needed upstairs as a point of reference for DRS calls, Ananthapadmanabhan was left to officiate at both ends. Piyush Kakkar, Shamsuddin’s replacement, was used solely as the square leg umpire.
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Cheteshwar Pujara is part of the Saurashtra side taking on Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy final[/caption]
This is the second headline unrelated to the on-field action to emerge in two days of the final, after Bengal coach and former India batsman Arun Lal slammed the quality of the pitch at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium in Rajkot, which he said was “dusting on the first day”.
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Saurashtra closed out the first day on 206-5, and by lunch on the second day, Cheteshwar Pujara and Arpit Vasavada took them to 278/5. The home team, who have historically been unbeatable in Rajkot, are gunning for their maiden Ranji Trophy title, after finishing as runners-up thrice in the last seven seasons, including 2018-19.
Bengal are two-time champions, having last won in 1989-90. They have since made the final thrice, including in back-to-back seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
